Unbeaten Trinity has the edge over St. Anthony's in 97th encounter

by S.M. Jiffrey Abdeen - Kandy Sports Corr.

Unbeaten Trinity College should have the edge purely on performance in the 97th Kandy's 'Battle of the Blues" against their traditional rivals St. Anthony's College which will be played at Katugastota next Friday and Saturday March 8th and 9th with play commencing at 10 am.

A total of 96 matches had been played in the series and Trinity College are in the lead with 22 wins against 12 by the Antonians, while 62 matches have ended in draws, most of them in the post war era.

The Trinitians dominated the series before 1951 scoring most of their wins after 1952 they had won only one match - 1986 under Thushara Weerasuriya and last year under Niroshan Dickwella when they won by an innings and one run breaking a 26 year 'hoodoo'. Between 1918 and 1928 the lions won 11 matches in a row which is the record in the series and may never be broken. The Antonians last won in 1992 under Umesh de Alwis.

Perhaps the best performance by the Antonians was in their centenary year in 1954 led by A.C.M. Lafir where they won by an innings. Lafir who later played for All Ceylon led by scoring 176 which still stands as the highest individual score in the series and he put on 266 for the first wicket with Ronnie Stevens who made 103, the highest individual score by a Trinitian is 148 by Kaushalya Weeraratne in 1999.

In 1999 Trinity's off spinner Sudanga Fernando took all 10 wickets for 38 runs in Antonian second innings. This is a rare feat in a big match and stands as the best bowling performance. Then there is also the double hat-trick by C. Dharmalingam for Trinity in 1939 when he performed the hat-trick in both innings. Trinity College will be led this year by fourth year player Dinuk Wickremanayake who was awarded his 'Cricket Lion' last year for his brilliant batting performance when he scored three centuries in time of crisis after the front liners had failed and his score of 152 not out against St. Joseph's College will be long remembered. This year he has scored 725 runs including a hundred and has also captured 35 wickets with his off spinners.

Trinity College has played 15 matches won two outright and drawn the rest to remain unbeaten. They have one more match to play before the big match against Dharmapala Vidyalaya, Pannipitiya.

Fourth year coloursman Rajitha Jayatunga is the vice captain of the side who has put up a much improved performance by scoring 600 runs for the season including an unbeaten century. He also bowls off spinners occasionally.

Lakshan Jayasinghe needs attention

But the player to watch is their young left-arm spinner Lakshan Jayasinghe who has captured 85 wickets is leading the race for 100 wickets this season from the hill capital. Last year too he bowled well to capture over 65 wickets. He could be the match winner this year with his bouncing deliveries.

The others who have performed well with the bat are opener Lakshitha Dissanayake (600 runs), Bhagya Palihawadana (575 runs) Ron Chandragupta (550 runs), Ravin Sayers (200 runs), Arjuna Jayasinghe (275 runs).

Apart from skipper Dinuk Wickremanayake and Lakshan Jayasinghe the other key bowlers in the side are left arm spinner Charith Sudaraka, off spinner Ravin Sayers (30 wkts), medium pacer Amrith Sri Mahan (25 wkts).

The other bowlers in the side are medium pacer Bhaghya Palihawadana, left arm spinner Ron Chandragupta who bowls the 'Chinaman', medium pacer Madhushan Subendran. Lakshitha Dassanayake is the stumper of the side.

The Antonians will be led by third year coloursman Sachin Bulathsinghala who has been the mainstay of the side and often had to perform under pressure which has somewhat prevented him from doing better.

He has scored over 600 runs and also captured 60 wickets which included the season's first hat rick against Wesley College. His highest score is 94 not out against St. Peter's College when he ran short of partners. His best bowling performance is 9 for 65.

The Antonians have played 14 matches won 0, lost 3 outright and drawn the rest. They came close to an outright victory against Dharmaraja College but a middle order collapse saw them hang on to a draw.

Third year coloursman Nimesha Gunasinghe is the vice captain of the side. He has scored 650 runs including a century.

He has also captured 20 wickets with his off spinners. But he has the talent to perform better with both bat and ball. He along with Sachin Bulathsinghala could be Antonian's main hopes.

Antonians - a fresher laden side

As a team the Antonians have not performed to their true potential though their side is a fresher laden one and are in the process of team building.

Their batting has often flopped resulting in low scores. Capable batsmen in the side are wicket keeper opening bat who has scored over 600 runs and has 26 victims behind the stumps. Damithra Panditharatne (340 runs), Kavinda Udapola (230 runs), Dilan Bandara (250 runs), Pavithra Nanayakkara (200 runs), Harsha Ebert (200 runs), Kanishka Uggalpaya (150 runs).

The brunt of the attack will be borne by off spinners Sachin Bulathsinghala and Nimesha gunasinghe, and leg spinner Buwaneka Wijetunga (25 wkts), medium pacers Praveen Charles and Srim Kannan. The other bowlers in the side are Dilan Bandara, leg spinner Kavinda Udapola, Prabodha Bandara.

[Teams]

Trinity College: (from) Dinuk Wickramanayake (captain) Rajitha Jayatunga (vice Captain), Ron Chandragupta, Bhaghya Palihawadana, Lakshith Dassanayake, Lakshan Jayasinghe, Amrith Srimaha, Arjuna Jayasinghe, Madhusahan Subendran, Kavin Hiniduma, Charith Sudaraka, Ravin Sayers, Pramodhya Abeykoon, Sangeeth Shanmuganathan, Avishka Dissanayake, Lahiru Sudesh, Chathura Jayasundera, Nushan Weerasinghe.

St. Anthony's College: (from) Sachin Bulathsinghala (Captain), Nimesh Gunasinghe (vice captain), Viraj Deepal, Buwaneka Wijetunga, Damithra Panditharatne, Dilan Bandara, Harsha Ebert, Charles Praveen, Kavinda Udapola, Pavithra Nanayakkara, Kanishka Uggalpaya, Lakjeewa Wijebandara, Sri Kannan, Probodhya Bandara, Kavinda Yapa Bandara, Mohammed Alfer.